August 23, 2009

Rachel getting ready for a scooter ride to the "Y"

Bruce and Rachel on the "Y" (The Y is the white area to the right of Bruce)

Bruce and Rachel celebrating their 1 year anniversary with a picnic at the park in the Provo Canyon.

Smashed into the glass at the ice rink.

Stroller and Hike the Y
Mom and Dad Waite came to visit on Saturday, August 15, 2009. We enjoyed chatting, lunch, and shopping. In the process we acquired a stroller for baby Opal. It's a car seat-stroller combo so the car seat snaps into the stroller. It will be great for school and it's really cute. When Mom and Dad left and the rain stopped Bruce and I rode the scooter to the base of "Y" mountain and hiked to the Y (BYU has a whitewashed Y on the mountain). It's not too long of a hike but the incline is steep enough to make it a good hike.

FHE
Bruce would like me to note that Monday was a normal day- work, come home, eat dinner, Family Home Evening (FHE)- but that I rudely fell asleep during his spectacular FHE lesson.

Temple & TB
Tuesday we were able to go to the temple. We try to go every other week, but before we moved I lost my wallet, so it was nice to have a recommend again and be able to get back in the habit. I also got my second shot to test for TB. It's a simple test- they inject something then you come back 2 days later an they check for a reaction- and I had it done last week but forgot to return to have in checked within the allotted 72 time frame so I had the privilege of redoing it.

Roses
Wednesday Bruce surprised me with a dozen roses as an early anniversary present.

Anniversary
Thursday we celebrated our 1 year anniversary. We had a picnic at a park in the canyon, went ice skating, and watched our wedding video. Ice skating was fun because we had the entire rink for just the two of us.

Sprinklers
Friday we helped Uncle Joe (Bruce's uncle) install his neighbors sprinkler system. It was a miserably hot day and we didn't finish until 6PM, but a friend made dinner for all of us.

Float Provo River
Saturday we did some sprinkler work in the morning and went on a double date with one of Bruce's friends and my co-worker in the afternoon. We floated the Provo River then cooked dinner in the canyon. It was another hot day so the freezing water felt good at first, and assuming you could thaw your fingers and toes between soakings it was still bearable after a half hour on the river. The Provo River is pretty calm so overall it was just a relaxing ride.

Temple Dedication
Today church was cancelled and the Oqurrih Mountain Temple Dedication was broadcast instead. I did a water audit of the temple grounds earlier this summer and after the audit they gave us a tour of the temple (before the Open House began). It's a beautiful temple and it was neat to be part of the dedication.

Upcoming Week
All my coworkers have now quit, so I'll work next week on my own and then switch to just Tuesday and Thursday work with school Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Hopefully I can get the water checks done in the allotted time.

School is just around the corner and I feel like I still have so much to get done.
Volunteering
I will be volunteering with an occupational therapist to get some experience for my graduate school application. I'm excited, but it's also going to consume a large amount of my time because I have to have 50 hours by December. I'll be able to begin volunteering once my immunization records arrive. I'll be volunteering some at the hospital and some at an assisted living facility. I think I'll really enjoy it as long as I can manage school, work, volunteering, and research.
Research
I processed the first trial for my study, but it revealed some weaknesses in the study design. We needed to confirm that the protocol would measure what we want to measure, so Bruce came to the lab to be tested last Friday only to find the EMG machine not working. I was pretty frustrated, but I'll try to get another trial run this week and then do the primary data collection during the school year. It's one more thing that is ticking away (I have to submit a report by December about the study findings) and will have to be completed between class and work.

Hike the Y

The Y on the mountain just east of BYU has a trail leading up to it. It's only a mile or two but it's fairly steep. In August, Bruce and I took the scooter to the parking lot and hiked to the Y. I generally pride myself in being in pretty good shape for a pregnant lady, but I had to go so slow and rest several times, but we made it.

Rachel and scooter helmet

The "Y"

Rachel and Bruce sitting on the "Y"

Rachel's Pregnant Belly at 24 weeks.

The latest news reel:

New Apartment
At the beginning of August we moved from our 1 bedroom apartment into a 2 bedroom apartment. We've enjoyed the redecorating and reorgainizing that comes with a move. I have been sewing curtains for all the rooms. We tried half-curtains rather than full-lenth curtains in a few of the rooms and so far we like them.

School
I am preparing for the GRE and finishing other things to prepare for graduate school. I will apply to the University of Utah's Occupational Therapy program this December and hear if I have been accepted in April 2010.
Bruce was accepted into BYU's accounting program and will begin in the fall. The bachelor's is a 2 year program, with an additional one year for a master's. He will apply for the master's program at the end of this school year. BYU has one of the top accounting programs in the nation so we are really excited that he was accepted! It also means that the next few years of schooling will be very rigrous.

Work
Bruce is working for the family lawncare business and will continue to do so into the school year. I am working for the Central Utah Water Conservancy District promoting conservation in Utah County by doing water checks. I'll continue to do water checks for the first part of the school year (until it gets too cold or until people stop calling for appointments).

Baby
Bruce and I are expecting a little girl in early December. The ultrasounds and check-ups indicate all is healthy and well with "Opal" (the nickname we have assigned fetus Sommerfeldt, not to worry though, we'll find something else to actually name her).